Madras High Court passes injunction against BCCI
Chennai: The Madras High Court has restrained the newly-elected office-bearers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from transacting any business on behalf of the Board, and has appointed a former Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice S. Mohan, as its interim Administrator.

Passing interim orders on two review petitions, a Division Bench, comprising Justice P.D. Dinakaran and Justice K. Raviraja Pandian, also said they had been "misled" into passing an order on September 29 after which the BCCI elections were held in Kolkata.

"We are of the considered opinion that the undertaking offered on behalf of the BCCI not to disqualify any member from any zone, has not been given effect to in letter and spirit as directed in our judgment dated September 29," the judges said. Prima facie, there were reasons to believe that the undertaking had been breached. "Hence, we are satisfied that a prima facie case has been made out for granting an injunction. Therefore, there shall be an order of interim injunction until further orders," the judges said.

On September 28, Justice S. Ashok Kumar allowed a civil suit by the Chennai-based Nethaji Cricket Club and appointed Justice Mohan as Commissioner to conduct the election according to the law for all the BCCI posts.

However, on an appeal by the BCCI the next day, the Division Bench set aside the single judge's order after recording an endorsement that "the Board shall not disqualify any candidate for the post of president on the ground of residence."

During the polls, held without the assistance of Mr. Justice Mohan, the representative of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MHA) was disqualified from participating in the AGM and casting his vote.

The Judges said that Agashe had made out a prima facie case for admitting the review petition, and granted him leave to file an application. They then ordered notice and directed the Board to file its counter-affidavit within a week.
Back to News Review index page  
India and Thailand in second phase of talks for FTA
Bangkok: India can become a gateway for Thailand in the South Asia region, a Thai minister said, as the two countries began negotiating 5,600 items for the second phase of the Free Trade Agreement.

The first phase of the 82 items under the Early Harvest Scheme of the India-Thailand FTA came into effect from September this year.

"This is a perfect time when Thailand is advocating 'look west policy' and India its 'look east policy," Thai Vice Minister for Commerce Parnpree Bahiddha Nukara told the India-Thai Business Forum referring to the interest both the countries have expressed in recent times in trading with each other's region. With Thailand's strategic location in South East Asia, the country can become a vital base for India for it's trading in the ASEAN region, Parnpree noted.
Back to News Review index page  

McKinsey: Indirect Taxes retard $300 billion export potential
Mumbai: India's indirect taxes regime remains a hindrance to a $300-billion manufacturing export potential, according to a report by McKinsey & Co.

The report, which was unveiled at CII's Manufacturing Summit said: "Made in India could become the next big manufacturing exports story. The global trend to manufacture and source products in low-cost countries (LCCs) is likely to gather strength over the next 10 years, particularly in the skill-intensive industries where India has a significant competitive advantage."

It added: "If India were to take advantage of this trend, manufacturing exports from India could increase from $40 billion in 2002 to approximately $300 billion by 2015, leading to a share of approximately 3.5 per cent in world manufacturing trade.''

This can create 25-30 million new jobs in manufacturing and add one percentage point to the country's annual GDP growth rate.

Some $70-90 billion of the indicated manufacturing export potential by 2015 can be from just four sectors - auto components ($15-18 billion), apparel ($25-30 billion), specialty chemicals ($12-15 billion) and electrical/electronic products.
In 2002, $1,300-1,400 billion worth of manufactured goods was exported from LCCs a growth of 13 per cent as against six per cent for world trade.

That year, India - with $40 billion in manufacturing exports - had trailed China's $300 billion, Taiwan's $145 billion, Mexico's $140 billion, Malaysia's $78 billion and Thailand's $55 billion.
Back to News Review index page  
Direct tax collections up 35.4 per cent in H1
New Delhi: The Centre's net direct tax collections have registered a 35.4 per cent increase in the first six months of the current fiscal to Rs44,800 crore on the back of an impressive performance on the personal income tax front.

The collection performance in the first half of the current fiscal represents 32.15 per cent of the budget estimate of Rs1,39,365 crore for direct taxes in 2004-05.

While income tax collections stood at Rs24,700 crore (up by 74 per cent), the corporate tax collection during the first six months of the current fiscal was Rs20,100 crore (about Rs19,000 crore during April-September 2003).

Excise and customs duty collections registered a 9.5 per cent increase to Rs69,611 crore against Rs63,576 crore in the same period last year.

While the excise mop-up for the period under review stood at Rs44,463 crore (Rs 40,409 crore), customs collections stood at Rs25,148 crore (Rs23,167 crore).
Back to News Review index page